Editorial

This special issue of the Journal of the Operational Research Society is dedicated to papers on the related subjects of knowledge management and intellectual capital. These subjects continue to generate considerable interest amongst both practitioners and academics. This issue demonstrates that operational researchers have many contributions to offer to the area, especially by bringing multi-disciplinary, integrated and holistic perspectives. The papers included are both theoretical as well as practical, and include a number of case studies showing how knowledge management has been implemented in practice that may assist other organisations in their search for a better means of managing what is now recognised as a core organisational activity. It has been accepted by a growing number of organisations that the precise handling of information and knowledge is a significant factor in facilitating their success but that there is a challenge in how to implement a strategy and processes for this handling. It is here, in the particular area of knowledge process handling that we can see the contributions of operational researchers most clearly as is illustrated in the papers included in this journal edition. The issue comprises nine papers, contributed by authors based in eight different countries on five continents. Lind and Seigerroth describe an approach that they call team-based reconstruction, intended to help articulate knowledge in a particular organisational. context. They illustrate the use of this approach with three case studies, two in manufacturing and one in public sector health care. Different ways of carrying out reconstruction are analysed, and the benefits of team-based reconstruction are established. Edwards and Kidd, and Connell, Powell and Klein both concentrate on knowledge transfer. Edwards and Kidd discuss the issues involved in transferring knowledge across frontières (borders) of various kinds, from those borders within organisations to those between countries. They present two examples, one in distribution and the other in manufacturing. They conclude that trust and culture both play an important part in facilitating such transfers, that IT should be kept in a supporting role in knowledge management projects, and that a staged approach to this IT support may be the most effective. Connell, Powell and Klein consider the oft-quoted distinction between explicit and tacit knowledge, and argue that such a distinction is sometimes unhelpful. They suggest that knowledge should rather be regarded as a holistic systemic property. The consequences of this for knowledge transfer are examined, with a particular emphasis on what this might mean for the practice of OR Their view of OR in the context of knowledge management very much echoes Lind and Seigerroth's focus on knowledge for human action. This is an interesting convergence of views given that, broadly speaking, one set of authors comes from within the OR community, and the other from outside it. Hafeez and Abdelmeguid present the nearest to a 'hard' OR contribution of the papers in this special issue. In their paper they construct and use system dynamics models to investigate alternative ways in which an organisation might close a knowledge gap or skills gap. The methods they use have the potential to be generalised to any other quantifiable aspects of intellectual capital. The contribution by Revilla, Sarkis and Modrego is also at the 'hard' end of the spectrum. They evaluate the performance of public–private research collaborations in Spain, using an approach based on data envelopment analysis. They found that larger organisations tended to perform relatively better than smaller ones, even though the approach used takes into account scale effects. Perhaps more interesting was that many factors that might have been thought relevant, such as the organisation's existing knowledge base or how widely applicable the results of the project would be, had no significant effect on the performance. It may be that how well the partnership between the collaborators works (not a factor it was possible to take into account in this study) is more important than most other factors. Mak and Ramaprasad introduce the concept of a knowledge supply network. This builds on existing ideas of supply chain management, but also integrates the design chain and the marketing chain, to address all the intellectual property connected with the network as a whole. The authors regard the knowledge supply network as the natural focus for considering knowledge management issues. They propose seven criteria for evaluating knowledge supply network architecture, and illustrate their argument with an example from the electronics industry—integrated circuit design and fabrication. In the paper by Hasan and Crawford, their interest lies in the holistic approach to knowledge management. They demonstrate their argument—that there is no simple IT solution for organisational knowledge management efforts—through two case study investigations. These case studies, in Australian universities, are investigated through cultural historical activity theory, which focuses the study on the activities that are carried out by people in support of their interpretations of their role, the opportunities available and the organisation's purpose. Human activities, it is argued, are mediated by the available tools, including IT and IS and in this particular context, KMS. It is this argument that places the available technology into the knowledge activity process and permits the future design of KMS to be improved through the lessons learnt by studying these knowledge activity systems in practice. Wijnhoven concentrates on knowledge management at the operational level of the organisation. He is concerned with studying the transformation of certain inputs to outputs—the operations function—and the consequent realisation of organisational goals via the management of these operations. He argues that the inputs and outputs of this process in the context of knowledge management are different types of knowledge and names the operation method the knowledge logistics. The method of transformation he calls learning. This theoretical paper discusses the operational management of four types of knowledge objects—explicit understanding; information; skills; and norms and values; and shows how through the proposed framework learning can transfer these objects to clients in a logistical process without a major transformation in content. Millie Kwan continues this theme with a paper about process-oriented knowledge management. In her case study she discusses an implementation of knowledge management where the knowledge is centred around an organisational process and the mission, rationale and objectives of the process define the scope of the project. In her case they are concerned with the effective use of real estate (property and buildings) within a Fortune 100 company. In order to manage the knowledge about this property and the process by which the best 'deal' for internal customers and the overall company was reached, a KMS was devised. She argues that process knowledge is a source of core competence and thus needs to be strategically managed. Finally, you may also wish to read a related paper originally submitted for this Special Issue, 'Customer knowledge management' by Garcia-Murillo and Annabi, which was published in the August 2002 issue of the Journal of the Operational Research Society, 53(8), 875–884.

The role of choice in the development of an M-government strategy in Turkey

Enhanced data services through mobile phones are expected to be soon fully transactional, interactive and embedded with other mobile consumption practices. While private services will continue to take the lead in the mobile data revolution, others such as government and NGOs are becoming more prominent m-players. This paper adopts a qualitative case study approach interpreting micro-level municipality officers’ mobility concept, ICT histories and choice practices for m-government services in Turkey. The findings highlight that in-situs ICT choice strategies are non-homogenous, sometimes conflicting with each other, and that current strategies have not yet justified the necessity for municipality officers to engage and fully commit to m-government efforts. Furthermore, beyond m-government initiatives’ success or failure, the mechanisms related to public administration mobile technical capacity building and knowledge transfer are identified to be directly related to m-government engagement likelihood.

The impact of university research on corporate patenting

This paper analyses the association between the number of patenting manufacturing firms and the quantity and quality of relevant university research across UK postcode areas. We show that different measures of research `power' and `excellence' positively affect the patenting of small firms within the same postcode area. Patenting by large firms, in contrast, is unaffected by research undertaken in nearby universities. This confirms the commonly held view that location matters more for small firms than large firms. We also investigate specific channels of technology transfer, finding that university-industry knowledge transfer occurs through both formal and informal channels. From a methodological point of view, we contribute to the existing literature by accounting for potential simultaneity between university research and patenting of local firms by adopting an instrumental variable approach. Moreover, we also allow for the effects of the presence of universities in neighbouring postcode areas to influence firms' patenting activity by incorporating spatial neighborhood effects.

Digital Preservation and Access to Cultural and Scientific Heritage: Presentation of the KT-DigiCult-BG Project

The fast development and wide application of digital methods, combined with broadened access to the Internet and falling computing costs, have created intense interest in electronic presentation and access to cultural and scientific heritage resources. Information technologies have offered cultural institutions new opportunities for the presentation of their holdings, which are now made accessible not only to the specialists, but also to the citizens and interested parties worldwide. The paper presents an overview of the Bulgarian experience in the field of digital preservation and access and on-going work on the project “Knowledge Transfer for the Digitisation of Scientific and Cultural Heritage to Bulgaria” (MTKD-CT-2004-509754) supported by the Marie Curie programme of the FP6 of the EC.

Identifying the configurational paths to innovation in SMEs:a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis

Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study investigates the conditions leading to a higher level of innovation. More specifically, the study explores the impact of inter-organisational knowledge transfer networks and organisations' internal capabilities on different types of innovation in Small to Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) in the high-tech sector. A survey instrument was used to collect data from a sample of UK SMEs. The findings show that although individual factors are important, there is no need for a company to perform well in all the areas. The fsQCA, which enables the examination of the impacts of different combinations of factors, reveals that there are a number of paths to achieve better incremental and radical innovation performance. Companies need to choose the one that is closest to their abilities and fits best with their resources.

Understanding inter-firm networks and types of innovation in SMEs:a social network perspective

Innovation is one of the key drivers for gaining competitive advantages in any firms. Understanding knowledge transfer through inter-firm networks and its effects on types of innovation in SMEs is very important in improving SMEs innovation. This study examines relationships between characteristics of inter-firm knowledge transfer networks and types of innovation in SMEs. To achieve this, social network perspective is adopted to understand inter-firm knowledge transfer networks and its impact on innovation by investigating how and to what extend ego network characteristics are affecting types of innovation. Therefore, managers can develop the firms'network according to their strategies and requirements. First, a conceptual model and research hypotheses are proposed to establish the possible relationship between network properties and types of innovation. Three aspects of ego network are identified and adopted for hypotheses development: 1) structural properties which address the potential for resources and the context for the flow of resources, 2) relational properties which reflect the quality of resource flows, and 3) nodal properties which are about quality and variety of resources and capabilities of the ego partners. A questionnaire has been designed based on the hypotheses. Second, semistructured interviews with managers of five SMEs have been carried out, and a thematic qualitative analysis of these interviews has been performed. The interviews helped to revise the questionnaire and provided preliminary evidence to support the hypotheses. Insights from the preliminary investigation also helped to develop research plan for the next stage of this research.

A multinacionális vállalatok szerepe a hazai klaszterekben (Roles of multinational enterprises in the Hungarian clusters)

A cikk azt a kérdést vizsgálja, hogy milyen szerepet töltenek be a multinacionális vállalatok leányvállalatai a hazai klaszterekben, milyen a kapcsolatuk a klasztertag kis- és középvállalatokkal többek között a közös innovációban, a tudásközvetítésben, a klaszterek reputációjának növelésében. A felderítő kutatás a témát a hazai klaszterfejlesztési program, a Pólus Program által életre hívott három, úgynevezett akkreditált klaszter menedzsereivel, a klasztertag multinacionális vállalatok (MNV-k) hazai leányvállalatainak képviselőivel és a klasztertag KKV-k vezetőivel készült interjúk alapján mutatja be. A téma relevanciáját a program által potenciálisan indukált együttműködési folyamatok adják, mivel a klaszterfejlesztési pályázati konstrukciók úgy lettek kialakítva, hogy a klasztertag KKV-knak érdemes legyen nagyvállalatot is bevonniuk a közös innovációs és kutatás-fejlesztési projektekbe. A kutatási eredmények alapján az MNV leányvállalatainak leginkább a globális trendek és standardok klaszterbeli elterjesztésében van meghatározó szerepük, illetve a KKV-k és leányvállalatok közötti üzleti kapcsolatok alakításában kiemelt szerepe van a klasztermenedzsment szervezet tevékenységének. / === / The paper focuses on the topic which deals with the role of subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNC’s) in Hungarian industrial clusters in the fields of common innovation, knowledge transfer, and increasing the cluster’s reputation. The findings of the paper are based on an explorative research. Interviews were made with cluster managers, representatives of MNC’s subsidiaries, leaders of small and medium size (SME’s) enterprises operating in three accredited clusters created by the Hungarian cluster development program, the Pole Program. The relevance of the topic is given by the Program, which has induced potential cooperation between MNC’s subsidiaries and domestic SME’s in cluster environment in a way so the members of the cluster – SME’s and subsidiaries – were driven to cooperate in common innovation and R+D projects. The author’s research results suggest that MNC’s subsidiaries in Hungarian clusters seem to play a key role in the dissemination of global industrial trends and standards between the cluster members. The national cluster management organization can also play a decisive role in shaping business relationship between MNC’s and SME’s.

A multinacionális vállalatok szerepe a hazai klaszterekben = The role of multinational companies in Hungarian clusters

A cikk azt a kérdést vizsgálja, hogy milyen szerepet töltenek be a multinacionális vállalatok leányvállalatai a hazai klaszterekben, milyen a kapcsolatuk a klasztertag kis- és középvállalatokkal többek között a közös innovációban, a tudásközvetítésben, a klaszterek reputációjának növelésében. A felderítő kutatás a témát a hazai klaszterfejlesztési program, a Pólus Program által életre hívott három, úgynevezett akkreditált klaszter menedzsereivel, a klasztertag multinacionális vállalatok (MNV-k) hazai leányvállalatainak képviselőivel és a klasztertag KKV-k vezetőivel készült interjúk alapján mutatja be. A téma relevanciáját a program által potenciálisan indukált együttműködési folyamatok adják, mivel a klaszterfejlesztési pályázati konstrukciók úgy lettek kialakítva, hogy a klasztertag KKV-knak érdemes legyen nagyvállalatot is bevonniuk a közös innovációs és kutatás-fejlesztési projektekbe. A kutatási eredmények alapján az MNV leányvállalatainak leginkább a globális trendek és standardok klaszterbeli elterjesztésében van meghatározó szerepük, illetve a KKV-k és leányvállalatok közötti üzleti kapcsolatok alakításában kiemelt szerepe van a klasztermenedzsment-szervezet tevékenységének. ----- Abstract: The paper focuses on the topic which deals with the role of subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNC’s) in Hungarian industrial clusters in the fields of common innovation, knowledge transfer, and increasing the cluster’s reputation. The findings of the paper are based on an explorative research. Interviews were made with cluster managers, representatives of MNC’s subsidiaries, leaders of small and medium size (SME’s) enterprises operating in three accredited clusters created by the Hungarian cluster development program, the Pole Program. The relevance of the topic is given by the Program, which has induced potential cooperation between MNC’s subsidiaries and domestic SME’s in cluster environment in a way so the members of the cluster – SME’s and subsidiaries – were driven to cooperate in common innovation and R+D projects. Our research results suggest that MNC’s subsidiaries in Hungarian clusters seem to play a key role in the dissemination of global industrial trends and standards between the cluster members. The national cluster management organization can also play a decisive role in shaping business relationship between MNC’s and SME’s.

A Kraft-index – kreatív városok – fenntartható vidék (The KRAFT Index: Creative Cities – Sustainable Regions)

A KRAFT-index: Kreatív városok – fenntartható vidék egy komplex mutatórendszer, amely a fejlődési tendenciát, hálózatosodást, a fontosabb szereplők együttműködési készségét és kapacitását, kreativitási potenciálját, valamint a szereplők szinergiáiból fakadó belső energiákat és lehetőségeiket jelzi. A város- és vidékfejlesztés sikerének zálogaként előtérbe állítja és méri az ún. „puha” tényezőket, úgymint a kreativitást, innovációs képességet, új tudás létrehozását, tudástranszfert, együttműködési készséget, bizalmat, kollektív kompetenciákat. A társadalmi, gazdasági és tudományos kapcsolatok és hálózatok sűrűsége, minősége és dinamizmusa a sikeres fejlődés és fejlesztés kulcsai: ezek ma már fontosabb tényezők, mint a fizikai távolság, az adminisztratív jogi határok vagy az ún. „kemény” indikátorok. Az index értékeli egy térség lehetőségeit arra, hogy az ott élők, dolgozók, alkotók és letelepedni kívánók életminőségét, a vállalatok minőségi munkaerő iránti igényét és a fenntarthatósági szempontokat egyaránt figyelembe véve fejlessze gazdaságát és versenyképességét. Három tulajdonságcsoportot mér: 1. kreativitiási és innovációs potenciál, az új tudás létrehozásának képessége, 2. társadalmi és kapcsolati tőke, hálózati potenciál és „összekapcsoltság”, valamint 3. fenntarthatósági potenciál. _____ The KRAFT Index: Creative Cities – Sustainable Regions is a complex indicator system to measure development tendencies, ‘networkedness’, cooperation inclination and capacity, creativity potential and possibilities arising from the synergies among actors. It highlights and gauges ‘soft’ factors, such as creativity, innovation capacity, knowledge production, knowledge transfer, willingness for cooperation, trust, and collective competences and perceives effective regional cooperation among economic and social actors as the measure of successful urban and rural development. The density, quality and dynamism of social, economic and academic networks are more important factors than physical distance, administrative legal barriers or ‘hard’ indicators. The index evaluates the potential of a region to develop its economy and competitiveness by considering the quality of life of its inhabitants, workers, producers and immigrants, the quality workforce requirements of companies and sustainability. It measures three groups of qualities: 1. creativity and innovation potential, the ability of knowledge production; 2. social and connection capital, network potential and connectedness; and 3. sustainability potential.

Promoção da alimentação saudável na atenção primária à saúde: contribuição para construção coletiva do saber-fazer

The recognition of the food as determinant and health-disease process etching requires new explanations and interventions of the food and nutrition policy action and demand health care model based on the completeness of the actions and focused on health promotion. This study, characterized as research-action of interventionist character, sought to develop strategies to support the transverse insertion of healthy eating promotion in professionals practices a core of support for the health of the family and a family health strategy Unit in the city of Natal, capital of Rio Grande do Norte, from the analysis of perceptions and work processes of these teams. Several methodological strategies were adopted: Dialectical Hermeneutical Circle, direct observation, reflective and Thematic Meetings Workshop "Rethinking the educational practices for promoting healthy eating". For data logging, search diaries - SD were used and moments. The analysis of procedural form occurred in conjunction with research participants, in constant movement of reflection-action-reflection, based on hermeneutics-dialectic. About the results, in relation to the promotion of health, showed the following insights: health promotion and disease prevention-related harms; health promotion related to quality of life and well-being, in its various dimensions; health promotion as a responsibility of the State; health promotion related to the actions of health education; health promotion as an expression of efficaciousness and accessibility to health services. Regarding healthy nutrition, predominated the perceptions relating to nutritional aspects. With regard to food and nutritional education - FNE, it was observed a predominance of perception of FNE as information, guidance and knowledge transfer for changes of dietary practices. As regards the working process, it was observed that among the actions for health promotion, educational activities predominate, such as lectures, conversations, groups that mostly occur in fragmentary form, without joint planning teams, varying according to the professionals and the moment of work in which they are carried out. The results pointed to the need for reorganization of the work processes, in the context of intra-and intersectoral coordination and the construction of new technologies, such as: Health project of the territory – HPT, Unique Therapeutic Project- UPT, Expanded Clinic and educational practices, Shared with active teaching and learning methodologies. From the results we believe that it is necessary to "thought reform", from changes in vocational training and strengthening of the permanent education spaces, whereas the complexity that involves feeding, food and nutrition education and health promotion. The reformation of thought must be articulate and closely tied to the production of knowledge and practices that encourage intersectoral approach, the transversality, dialogue and democratic and supportive attitude, based on the collective construction of know-how. We hope that this study can contribute with reflections and initiatives that encourage building practices that promote healthy eating in primary health care, in terms of completeness of the care and the attainment of food security and nutrition.

CAUTI prevention bundles: improving best practices within Western Health for continued success

Background: Persons in acute care settings who have indwelling urethral catheters are at higher risk of acquiring a urinary tract infection (UTI). Other complications related to prolonged indwelling urinary catheters include decreased mobility, damage to the meatus and/or urethra, increase use of antibiotics, increased length of stay, and pain. UTIs in acute care settings account for 30 to 40% of all health care associated infections (HAIs). Of these, 80% are catheter associated UTIs (CAUTIs). Purpose: To utilized the CDC (2009) bundle approach for CAUTI prevention and create a program which supports a multimodal method to improving urinary catheter use, maintenance, and removal, including a continuing competency program where role expansion is anticipated. Methods: A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted. Physicians were consulted through a power point presentation followed by a letter explaining the project, a questionnaire, and two selections of relevant literature. Nursing staff and allied health professionals from the target units of 3A and 3B medicine attended one of two lunch and learns. They were presented the project via a power point presentation and the same questionnaire as distributed to physicians. Results: Five e-learning modules, a revised policy, and clinical pathway have been developed to support staff with best practice knowledge transfer. Conclusion: Behaviour changes need to be approached with a framework, extensive consultation, and education. Sustainability of any practice change cannot occur without having completed the background work to ensure staff have access to tools to support the change.

Reference gene selection and RNA preservation protocol in the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, for gene expression studies

This work was supported by a Knowledge Transfer Network BBSRC Industrial Case (#414 BB/L502467/1) studentship in association Zoetis Inc.

Art + Bioéthique : quand la recherche en bioéthique quitte les murs de l’université

Éditoral / Editorial

Principes de communication et rôle social du chercheur en matière de transfert de connaissances : une dualité source de questionnements éthiques

Essai / Essay

Art + Bioéthique : quand la recherche en bioéthique quitte les murs de l’université

Éditoral / Editorial